Black Conservatives ARE TAKING THE HEAT for joining the Tea Party

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UrRight

Posts : 3993

Subject: Black Conservatives ARE TAKING THE HEAT for joining the Tea Party 4/7/2010, 9:51 am

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - They've been called Oreos, traitors and Uncle Toms, and are used to having to defend their values. Now black conservatives are really taking heat for their involvement in the mostly white tea party movement—and for having the audacity to oppose the policies of the nation's first black president. "I've been told I hate myself. I've been called an Uncle Tom. I've been told I'm a spook at the door," said Timothy F. Johnson, chairman of the Frederick Douglass Foundation, a group of black conservatives who support free market principles and limited government.

"Black Republicans find themselves always having to prove who they are. Because the assumption is the Republican Party is for whites and the Democratic Party is for blacks," he said.

Johnson and other black conservatives say they were drawn to the tea party movement because of what they consider its commonsense fiscal values of controlled spending, less taxes and smaller government. The fact that they're black—or that most tea partyers are white—should have nothing to do with it, they say.

"You have to be honest and true to yourself. What am I supposed to do, vote Democratic just to be popular? Just to fit in?" asked Clifton Bazar, a 45-year-old New Jersey freelance photographer and conservative blogger.

Opponents have branded the tea party as a group of racists hiding behind economic concerns—and reports that some tea partyers were lobbing racist slurs at black congressmen during last month's heated health care vote give them ammunition.

But these black conservatives don't consider racism representative of the movement as a whole—or race a reason to support it.

Angela McGlowan, a black congressional candidate from Mississippi, said her tea party involvement is "not about a black or white issue."

"It's not even about Republican or Democrat, from my standpoint," she told The Associated Press. "All of us are taxed too much."

Still, she's in the minority. As a nascent grassroots movement with no registration or formal structure, there are no racial demographics available for the tea party movement; it's believed to include only a small number of blacks and Hispanics.

Some black conservatives credit President Barack Obama's election—and their distaste for his policies—with inspiring them and motivating dozens of black Republicans to plan political runs in November.

For black candidates like McGlowan, tea party events are a way to reach out to voters of all races with her conservative message.

"I'm so proud to be a part of this movement! I want to tell you that a lot of people underestimate you guys," the former national political commentator for Fox News told the cheering crowd at a tea party rally in Nashville, Tenn., in February.

Tea party voters represent a new model for these black conservatives—away from the black, liberal Democratic base located primarily in cities, and toward a black and white conservative base that extends into the suburbs.

Black voters have overwhelmingly backed Democratic candidates, support that has only grown in recent years. In 2004, presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry won 88 percent of the black vote; four years later, 95 percent of black voters cast ballots for Obama.

Black conservatives don't want to have to apologize for their divergent views.

"I've gotten the statement, 'How can you not support the brother?'" said David Webb, an organizer of New York City's Tea Party 365, Inc. movement and a conservative radio personality.

Since Obama's election, Webb said some black conservatives have even resorted to hiding their political views.

"I know of people who would play the (liberal) role publicly, but have their private opinions," he said. "They don't agree with the policy but they have to work, live and exist in the community ... Why can't we speak openly and honestly if we disagree?"

Among the 37 black Republicans running for U.S. House and Senate seats in November is Charles Lollar of Maryland's 5th District.

A tea party supporter running against House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., Lollar says he's finding support in unexpected places.

The 38-year-old U.S. Marine Corps reservist recently walked into a bar in southern Maryland decorated with a Confederate flag. It gave his wife Rosha pause.

"I said, 'You know what, honey? Many, many of our Southern citizens came together under that flag for the purpose of keeping their family and their state together,'" Lollar recalled. "The flag is not what you're to fear. It's the stupidity behind the flag that is a problem. I don't think we'll find that in here. Let's go ahead in."

Once inside, they were treated to a pig roast, a motorcycle rally—and presented with $5,000 in contributions for his campaign.

McGlowan, one of three GOP candidates in north Mississippi's 1st District primary, seeks a seat held since 2008 by Democrat Travis Childers. The National Republican Congressional Committee has supported Alan Nunnelee, chairman of the state Senate Appropriations Committee, who is also pursuing tea party voters.

McGlowan believes the tea party movement has been unfairly portrayed as monolithically white, male and middle-aged, though she acknowledged blacks and Hispanics are a minority at most events.

Racist protest signs at some tea party rallies and recent reports by U.S. Reps. John Lewis, D-Ga., and Barney Frank, D-Mass., that tea partyers shouted racial and anti-gay slurs at them have raised allegations of racism in the tea party movement.

Black members of the movement say it is not inherently racist, and some question the reported slurs. "You would think—something that offensive—you would think someone got video of it," Bazar, the conservative blogger, said.

"Just because you have one nut case, it doesn't automatically equate that you've got an organization that espouses (racism) as a sane belief," Johnson said.

Hilary Shelton, director of the Washington bureau of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, suggested a bit of caution.

"I'm sure the reason that (black conservatives) are involved is that from an ideological perspective, they agree," said Shelton. "But when those kinds of things happen, it is very important to be careful of the company that you keep."

___

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - They've been called Oreos, traitors and Uncle Toms, and are used to having to defend their values. Now black conservatives are really taking heat for their involvement in the mostly white tea party movement—and for having the audacity to oppose the policies of the nation's first black president. "I've been told I hate myself. I've been called an Uncle Tom. I've been told I'm a spook at the door," said Timothy F. Johnson, chairman of the Frederick Douglass Foundation, a group of black conservatives who support free market principles and limited government.

"Black Republicans find themselves always having to prove who they are. Because the assumption is the Republican Party is for whites and the Democratic Party is for blacks," he said.

Johnson and other black conservatives say they were drawn to the tea party movement because of what they consider its commonsense fiscal values of controlled spending, less taxes and smaller government. The fact that they're black—or that most tea partyers are white—should have nothing to do with it, they say.

"You have to be honest and true to yourself. What am I supposed to do, vote Democratic just to be popular? Just to fit in?" asked Clifton Bazar, a 45-year-old New Jersey freelance photographer and conservative blogger.

Opponents have branded the tea party as a group of racists hiding behind economic concerns—and reports that some tea partyers were lobbing racist slurs at black congressmen during last month's heated health care vote give them ammunition.

But these black conservatives don't consider racism representative of the movement as a whole—or race a reason to support it.

Angela McGlowan, a black congressional candidate from Mississippi, said her tea party involvement is "not about a black or white issue."

"It's not even about Republican or Democrat, from my standpoint," she told The Associated Press. "All of us are taxed too much."

Still, she's in the minority. As a nascent grassroots movement with no registration or formal structure, there are no racial demographics available for the tea party movement; it's believed to include only a small number of blacks and Hispanics.

Some black conservatives credit President Barack Obama's election—and their distaste for his policies—with inspiring them and motivating dozens of black Republicans to plan political runs in November.

For black candidates like McGlowan, tea party events are a way to reach out to voters of all races with her conservative message.

"I'm so proud to be a part of this movement! I want to tell you that a lot of people underestimate you guys," the former national political commentator for Fox News told the cheering crowd at a tea party rally in Nashville, Tenn., in February.

Tea party voters represent a new model for these black conservatives—away from the black, liberal Democratic base located primarily in cities, and toward a black and white conservative base that extends into the suburbs.

Black voters have overwhelmingly backed Democratic candidates, support that has only grown in recent years. In 2004, presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry won 88 percent of the black vote; four years later, 95 percent of black voters cast ballots for Obama.

Black conservatives don't want to have to apologize for their divergent views.

"I've gotten the statement, 'How can you not support the brother?'" said David Webb, an organizer of New York City's Tea Party 365, Inc. movement and a conservative radio personality.

Since Obama's election, Webb said some black conservatives have even resorted to hiding their political views.

"I know of people who would play the (liberal) role publicly, but have their private opinions," he said. "They don't agree with the policy but they have to work, live and exist in the community ... Why can't we speak openly and honestly if we disagree?"

Among the 37 black Republicans running for U.S. House and Senate seats in November is Charles Lollar of Maryland's 5th District.

A tea party supporter running against House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., Lollar says he's finding support in unexpected places.

The 38-year-old U.S. Marine Corps reservist recently walked into a bar in southern Maryland decorated with a Confederate flag. It gave his wife Rosha pause.

"I said, 'You know what, honey? Many, many of our Southern citizens came together under that flag for the purpose of keeping their family and their state together,'" Lollar recalled. "The flag is not what you're to fear. It's the stupidity behind the flag that is a problem. I don't think we'll find that in here. Let's go ahead in."

Once inside, they were treated to a pig roast, a motorcycle rally—and presented with $5,000 in contributions for his campaign.

McGlowan, one of three GOP candidates in north Mississippi's 1st District primary, seeks a seat held since 2008 by Democrat Travis Childers. The National Republican Congressional Committee has supported Alan Nunnelee, chairman of the state Senate Appropriations Committee, who is also pursuing tea party voters.

McGlowan believes the tea party movement has been unfairly portrayed as monolithically white, male and middle-aged, though she acknowledged blacks and Hispanics are a minority at most events.

Racist protest signs at some tea party rallies and recent reports by U.S. Reps. John Lewis, D-Ga., and Barney Frank, D-Mass., that tea partyers shouted racial and anti-gay slurs at them have raised allegations of racism in the tea party movement.

Black members of the movement say it is not inherently racist, and some question the reported slurs. "You would think—something that offensive—you would think someone got video of it," Bazar, the conservative blogger, said.

"Just because you have one nut case, it doesn't automatically equate that you've got an organization that espouses (racism) as a sane belief," Johnson said.

Hilary Shelton, director of the Washington bureau of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, suggested a bit of caution.

"I'm sure the reason that (black conservatives) are involved is that from an ideological perspective, they agree," said Shelton. "But when those kinds of things happen, it is very important to be careful of the company that you keep."

___

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - They've been called Oreos, traitors and Uncle Toms, and are used to having to defend their values. Now black conservatives are really taking heat for their involvement in the mostly white tea party movement—and for having the audacity to oppose the policies of the nation's first black president. "I've been told I hate myself. I've been called an Uncle Tom. I've been told I'm a spook at the door," said Timothy F. Johnson, chairman of the Frederick Douglass Foundation, a group of black conservatives who support free market principles and limited government.

"Black Republicans find themselves always having to prove who they are. Because the assumption is the Republican Party is for whites and the Democratic Party is for blacks," he said.

Johnson and other black conservatives say they were drawn to the tea party movement because of what they consider its commonsense fiscal values of controlled spending, less taxes and smaller government. The fact that they're black—or that most tea partyers are white—should have nothing to do with it, they say.

"You have to be honest and true to yourself. What am I supposed to do, vote Democratic just to be popular? Just to fit in?" asked Clifton Bazar, a 45-year-old New Jersey freelance photographer and conservative blogger.

Opponents have branded the tea party as a group of racists hiding behind economic concerns—and reports that some tea partyers were lobbing racist slurs at black congressmen during last month's heated health care vote give them ammunition.

But these black conservatives don't consider racism representative of the movement as a whole—or race a reason to support it.

Angela McGlowan, a black congressional candidate from Mississippi, said her tea party involvement is "not about a black or white issue."

"It's not even about Republican or Democrat, from my standpoint," she told The Associated Press. "All of us are taxed too much."

Still, she's in the minority. As a nascent grassroots movement with no registration or formal structure, there are no racial demographics available for the tea party movement; it's believed to include only a small number of blacks and Hispanics.

Some black conservatives credit President Barack Obama's election—and their distaste for his policies—with inspiring them and motivating dozens of black Republicans to plan political runs in November.

For black candidates like McGlowan, tea party events are a way to reach out to voters of all races with her conservative message.

"I'm so proud to be a part of this movement! I want to tell you that a lot of people underestimate you guys," the former national political commentator for Fox News told the cheering crowd at a tea party rally in Nashville, Tenn., in February.

Tea party voters represent a new model for these black conservatives—away from the black, liberal Democratic base located primarily in cities, and toward a black and white conservative base that extends into the suburbs.

Black voters have overwhelmingly backed Democratic candidates, support that has only grown in recent years. In 2004, presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry won 88 percent of the black vote; four years later, 95 percent of black voters cast ballots for Obama.

Black conservatives don't want to have to apologize for their divergent views.

"I've gotten the statement, 'How can you not support the brother?'" said David Webb, an organizer of New York City's Tea Party 365, Inc. movement and a conservative radio personality.

Since Obama's election, Webb said some black conservatives have even resorted to hiding their political views.

"I know of people who would play the (liberal) role publicly, but have their private opinions," he said. "They don't agree with the policy but they have to work, live and exist in the community ... Why can't we speak openly and honestly if we disagree?"

Among the 37 black Republicans running for U.S. House and Senate seats in November is Charles Lollar of Maryland's 5th District.

A tea party supporter running against House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., Lollar says he's finding support in unexpected places.

The 38-year-old U.S. Marine Corps reservist recently walked into a bar in southern Maryland decorated with a Confederate flag. It gave his wife Rosha pause.

"I said, 'You know what, honey? Many, many of our Southern citizens came together under that flag for the purpose of keeping their family and their state together,'" Lollar recalled. "The flag is not what you're to fear. It's the stupidity behind the flag that is a problem. I don't think we'll find that in here. Let's go ahead in."

Once inside, they were treated to a pig roast, a motorcycle rally—and presented with $5,000 in contributions for his campaign.

McGlowan, one of three GOP candidates in north Mississippi's 1st District primary, seeks a seat held since 2008 by Democrat Travis Childers. The National Republican Congressional Committee has supported Alan Nunnelee, chairman of the state Senate Appropriations Committee, who is also pursuing tea party voters.

McGlowan believes the tea party movement has been unfairly portrayed as monolithically white, male and middle-aged, though she acknowledged blacks and Hispanics are a minority at most events.

Racist protest signs at some tea party rallies and recent reports by U.S. Reps. John Lewis, D-Ga., and Barney Frank, D-Mass., that tea partyers shouted racial and anti-gay slurs at them have raised allegations of racism in the tea party movement.

Black members of the movement say it is not inherently racist, and some question the reported slurs. "You would think—something that offensive—you would think someone got video of it," Bazar, the conservative blogger, said.

"Just because you have one nut case, it doesn't automatically equate that you've got an organization that espouses (racism) as a sane belief," Johnson said.

Hilary Shelton, director of the Washington bureau of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, suggested a bit of caution.

"I'm sure the reason that (black conservatives) are involved is that from an ideological perspective, they agree," said Shelton. "But when those kinds of things happen, it is very important to be careful of the company that you keep."

___

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9ETR1380&show_article=1

See, it's not about skin color; it's about policies...we're going down in a hand-basket. I think Obama needs to be impeached.

We need demand for transparency - how many damn layers of gov't are we supporting?

How can they FORCE YOU buy insurance when this Obama spent 3 times the trillions in the last year, than Bush did?

Everyone loosing their homes, jobs, and lining up at the welfare office, where they need to hire more workers. Applicants getting hungry and angrier, throwing and hitting caseworkers (See Detroit in The Detroit News).

He's allowing our enemies to know what we do or intend to do that should be top secret. Are you sure he isn't helping our enemies?

Just because he's half baked, doesn't mean he's qualified....like Iran's leader said, "He is an amateur...inexperienced in politics". Now he has Afghanistan mad at us, while our troops are loosing their lives over there, he wants to diss the visit....over "Western Remarks". Maybe it's time to pull our troops out all over. They don't treasure the help they got, it tanked our economy, and this POTUS does nothing but bend over and kiss their butts.

IMPEACH HIM! We're doomed.

Scorpion

Posts : 1891

Subject: Re: Black Conservatives ARE TAKING THE HEAT for joining the Tea Party 4/7/2010, 4:46 pm

UrRight wrote:

I think Obama needs to be impeached.

You keep saying this over and over. But I've yet to see you post anything at all about what why you think he should be impeached. You can't impeach a President simply because you disagree with his politics or his policies. He would have to be guilty of a crime.

From our Constitution...

Quote :

The President, Vice President and all Civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

So what has the President done that would make him subject to impeachment?

paul87920

Posts : 875

Subject: Re: Black Conservatives ARE TAKING THE HEAT for joining the Tea Party 4/8/2010, 4:32 pm

I highly doubt blacks are being specifically being singled out. I'll tell you what, if I knew anyone who was a part of the tea party movement I'd blow them shit regardless of race.

KarenT

Posts : 1328

Subject: Re: Black Conservatives ARE TAKING THE HEAT for joining the Tea Party 4/8/2010, 5:14 pm

I asked a gay Republican friend if he ever watches the news, and how could he be Rep?

UrRight

Posts : 3993

Subject: Re: Black Conservatives ARE TAKING THE HEAT for joining the Tea Party 4/8/2010, 5:21 pm

Obama is breaking constitutional laws where he requires you to buy insurance. Already Mitch took the fast road and took it out on people in need, all do to chivalry.

His birth certificate, citizenship is now before the Supreme Court.

He should have presented transparency and worked with the Rpublicans...running on the platform and keeping his promises. He hasn't done dquat as a POTUS.

He mislead this country; he is now dividing the world with this hoax of cutting down on nuclear weapons .

He's already got Iran threatening us. He's got the Afghanistan guy pizzed off...do we stay, do we go, what do we do...keep throwing money at endless holy wars while our own country sinks trying to save everyone elses' stinking world?

Lastly, he is not profiling himself as a stable-level headed leader. He's a radical. He is a liar...and he doesn't give a crap about our own flesh, blood, and money going to those dictators, and though 9/11 happened, I'm sure the families of those victims are just delighted to know he changed the terminology on "terrrorists" At all angles.

Now, with our economy tanking, he thinks he must bow down to the world and allow them privy to what should be top secret with intelligence and the military.

And I am wondering since the FEDERAL taxes being paid in at 47 percent across the nation, no true head counts with the census, just how are those thousands of layers of unnecessary gov't going to pay themselves or that "FREE HEALTH CARE"?

He doesn't have a clue about what a president of the US is about. M

He's not qualified, he needs to go for incompentency and take his Chicago Mafia with him.

Has our nation improved or gotten worse since Bush? He added to Bush...and I didn't even like what Bush did...and I don't care about color, either. I want someone in that knows what the heck they are doing.

The tea party - all they want is our Constitution back, and our rights, and less taxation.

How are you gonna tax peolple next year? They're almost all out of a job.

I don't know how my post got posted three times in a row up there...sometimes it says, "Wait, flooded, so you wait to hit it again. Then it pops up to wait again....I didn't realize it go repeated, otherwise I would have gone back to delete the extra ones.

Why are you guys so against TeaParties? I like hearing what they have to say, cuz it represents how I feel. Gov't too big, too much spending, etc.

paul87920

Posts : 875

Subject: Re: Black Conservatives ARE TAKING THE HEAT for joining the Tea Party 4/8/2010, 5:24 pm

KarenT wrote:

I asked a gay Republican friend if he ever watches the news, and how could he be Rep?

It's an untapped base. I had read a statistic that 1 in 4 LGBT voters had voted for Bush in either 2000 or 2004. Quite a few have higher incomes and live in really nice neighborhoods.

UrRight

Posts : 3993

Subject: Re: Black Conservatives ARE TAKING THE HEAT for joining the Tea Party 4/8/2010, 5:33 pm

paul87920 wrote:

I highly doubt blacks are being specifically being singled out. I'll tell you what, if I knew anyone who was a part of the tea party movement I'd blow them shit regardless of race.

REPOS and DEMOS are both crooked. It's not like the old days. They both suck.Obama got the black vote and the white vote for false hopes and dreams, warping the minds of young ones, and partially because of skin color, and because of Bush's legacy.

We were upset on how much Bush spent, this guy tripled in the trillions since then.

Look how man nitwits are in his office, that got dropped, resogned, had affairs, didn't pay taxes, a VP who swears...where is America???i Screw the other countries...we're in worse condition than they are. If you thought it was bad up until now, wait until next year. No one working, people out of jobs. His first priority was to get jobs going...create them. Second was, to focus on producing schools that produce kids that can compete against the Chinese...then tackle the damn war, and go back on your promise you are bringing them home THIS YEAR, cuz they don't give a damn what we do for them over there.

Sanctions against Iran? The leader is laughing his butt off. He'll just send a warhead over to tell you what he thinks of the USA.

Both Repos and Dumbos are liars and thieves...you can pick a few from each side that are not, but as long as we keep going the way we are, you may as well not vote. What's out there?

Look if John Edwards had won back then...we would have the same thing...affairs, lies, money corruption, you name it. Who the heck can you trust anymore.

I'm disgusted with all of them in Washington. It's either a party or a jet-flying escapade. Never a POTUS joining in with both sides to come to mutual agreement. One points the finger at the other.

Much like Lake County, and no different. Imagine Rudy Clay as POTUS...then you can imagine how I thing Obama is running this country.

Last edited by UrRight on 4/8/2010, 5:40 pm; edited 1 time in total

paul87920

Posts : 875

Subject: Re: Black Conservatives ARE TAKING THE HEAT for joining the Tea Party 4/8/2010, 5:39 pm

UrRight wrote:

Why are you guys so against TeaParties?

I don't agree with the group's approach to our country's problems and their unwillingness to work together with anyone to get the country back on track. The problems is we have a 24 hour news cycle combined with the internet and people have grown insufferably impatient. President Obama was inaugurated on 1/20/09. It wasn't even the 21st before people were beside themselves that the world hadn't instantly corrected itself. And that's the mentality that the tea party is based off of.

UrRight

Posts : 3993

Subject: Re: Black Conservatives ARE TAKING THE HEAT for joining the Tea Party 4/8/2010, 5:43 pm

paul87920 wrote:

UrRight wrote:

Why are you guys so against TeaParties?

I don't agree with the group's approach to our country's problems and their unwillingness to work together with anyone to get the country back on track. The problems is we have a 24 hour news cycle combined with the internet and people have grown insufferably impatient. President Obama was inaugurated on 1/20/09. It wasn't even the 21st before people were beside themselves that the world hadn't instantly corrected itself. And that's the mentality that the tea party is based off of.

Their approach is free speech, pointing out the problems peacefully, wanting to reign in the spending...and taxes.

I wish all voters would demand the same...cuz what have we seen any different in the past few presidencys

At least with Clinton, we had a surplus and he knew how to present himself as a "statesmanship" POTUS doesn't know how to talk to 6th graders without a teleprompter.

UrRight

Posts : 3993

Subject: Re: Black Conservatives ARE TAKING THE HEAT for joining the Tea Party 4/8/2010, 5:45 pm

Paul, the Tea Party realizes that, it was in the news...they need to correct what you were saying. we need a 3rd party.

So Paul, who else is taking an approach unless you agree with what is going on now, what do you suggest?

At least their voices are being heard...and the Capitol isn't hearin them!!!!! They just do what they want...neither party are talking to the other. Closed door meetings..

Don't you think they need parental guidance?

paul87920

Posts : 875

Subject: Re: Black Conservatives ARE TAKING THE HEAT for joining the Tea Party 4/8/2010, 6:30 pm

UrRight wrote:

So Paul, who else is taking an approach unless you agree with what is going on now, what do you suggest?

Frankly, nobody is taking an approach I agree on.

What I can't understand is that we will pour billions into freeing a country being ruled under a dictatorship (Iraq). We're willing to dump money into helping Haiti. We'll spend millions keeping gays from marrying. We'll spend millions keeping gays from adopting. We'll spend billions fighting drug wars that we cannot win.

BUT THE MINUTE WE BEGIN TO WORK ON DOMESTIC POLICY, spend any of that money on ourselves, and improving our quality of life there is a public outcry. I'll tell you what, I think this healthcare bill is great. It's the first time in a long time that this country has done something for its citizens and the public is up in arms about it.

KarenT

Posts : 1328

Subject: Re: Black Conservatives ARE TAKING THE HEAT for joining the Tea Party 4/8/2010, 7:17 pm

Not all of us, Paul. Some of us think it's a good thing.

Heretic

Posts : 3093

Subject: Re: Black Conservatives ARE TAKING THE HEAT for joining the Tea Party 4/9/2010, 9:23 am

KarenT wrote:

I asked a gay Republican friend if he ever watches the news, and how could he be Rep?

The Cato Institute had a panel discussion on that exact topic back in February. "Is There a Place for Gay People in Conservatism and Conservative Politics?", a party that gleefully discriminates against them. The panelists were Andrew Sullivan, Nick Herbert (a member of the British parliament from the Conservative Party) and the hateful Maggie Gallagher of the National Organization for Marriage. Jason Kuznicki who works at Cato and runs the blog Positive Liberty, cut right to the heart of the issue:

Quote :

Conservatism offers virtually no usable past for gays and lesbians. Even black conservatives can say, in effect, “The past sure wasn’t golden, but when Jefferson — and plenty of others — wrote that ‘all men are created equal,’ they clearly meant us too.” Which is plausible enough, at least, for black conservatism not to be a flat contradiction in terms.

This is much harder for gay people to do, which is why we have to resort to newly thought arguments rather than tradition to justify what we’re saying. There’s a built-in liberalness to gay politics, if not necessarily to gay people. Even conservative gay politics, in this sense, is liberal. Because all we have is the future. It’s the future, or nothing.

That “nothing” was on full display this afternoon, when I got to ask Maggie Gallagher the question I’ve always wanted to ask her: What do you think that am I supposed to do with my life?

Suppose I found myself in agreement with her. Suppose I concluded that same-sex marriage was corrosive to society. Do I leave my husband? Do I send my adopted daughter back to the state? Enter ex-gay therapy, which isn’t likely to work? Tell my whole family that I’m single now, and that Scott shouldn’t be welcome at family events? Live my whole life alone, and loveless? Hide? Where is the life I’m supposed to live?

I probably wasn’t so articulate at the Cato event, but I do recall Gallagher’s very simple answer: “I don’t know.”

She certainly doesn’t, and that’s the whole problem with gay conservatism — there’s hardly a life to be lived within it. There’s no breathing room. Until social conservatives offer us a better answer than “I don’t know,” until they offer us a way to be gay, and conservative, and respectable in their eyes, they’re not going to find many gay conservatives.

The above exchange takes place at about the 73min mark.

UrRight wrote:

Why are you guys so against TeaParties?

Seriously? I know I've posted this more than once, and the situation has only gotten worse:

Quote :

I also can't help but think this teabagging movement represents a more mainstream identity of growing right-wing hate in this country. With new reports of growth of white supremacist recruiting, recruitment of members of the military and the Father Coughlin-esque ranting of Glenn Beck and Limbaugh I'm worried we're seeing the rise of new hate movement. Seeing their signs - blaming Obama for economic woes he's had all of three months to address, Obama's Plan:White Slavery, The American Taxpayers are the Jews for Obama's ovens, Obama is the Anti-Christ, drumming up paranoia about guns, and internment camps, secession from the union for the love of Benji, Obama is a Muslim, let's waterboard Obama - my interpretation of these events isn't that they are legitimately angry at government spending or taxation. I just don't buy it. After all, why get angry now? We've spent hundreds of billions under Bush, and wasted huge amounts in foreign wars and disastrous national policies. The tax increase? 3% on those making more than 250k? I somehow don't see that as taxing our children's future away, or these folks as representative of the wealthy Americans that are targeted by the tax. The people leading this movement may be recruiting a large number of people who share this unbalanced delusion about taxes and "big government" but it's clear there is also an ugly, nationalist, and frankly racist theme behind this new movement.

They are a fractured, incoherent mess of hypocrites, liars, and the gleefully ignorant (like this guy or this guy). I have yet to hear a coherent argument from the lot of them, let alone any sort of basis for a political movement. The whole thing is grounded on nothing more that bumper sticker logic that most four year olds could write: "Taxes bad! Freedom good!!" and "Show me the birth certificate". Easily manipulated muppets all mindlessly regurgitating what they heard on Fox News and Glenn Beck the night before regardless of the actual validity contained therein. Paul absolutely nailed it when he said "It's the first time in a long time that this country has done something for its citizens and the public is up in arms about it." It's a movement grounded on that kind of stupidity. The people who could benefit most from affordable healthcare opposed it on the nonsensical idea that it will magically lead this transform this country into a socialist/Marxist/totalitarian hellscape (and kill Grandma, too) virtually over night, just like it did absolutely never to all the other nations that have affordable healthcare . They participate in a movement sponsored by the conservative media and funded by conservative think tanks, and proudly exclaim they're "grassroots".

Birthers, creationists, homophobes, AGW skeptics, censusphobes... There's a lot of tinfoil hats in the group. And you can have 'em. I wish them continued success destroying the very party that created them, the party that really did ruin the country over the past 8 yrs, the party that the Teabaggers either ignored or rallied behind while it was happening.

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Subject: Re: Black Conservatives ARE TAKING THE HEAT for joining the Tea Party